By the time the crowd dispersed enough for us to leave the training field it was almost night time. My mind was a whirl of new information, connections and questions. I didn't even notice when we made it back to our borrowed living room.

"We need to split for night watch," Clara said. "But I'll have Devon do some loops around to keep you posted on anything going on."

"Why do I have to keep the pot-stirrers informed?" The elf huffed.

"Because I said so, and you nearly cooked Dennis with lightning during that training match."

"I did say I was sorry..." The elf grumbled, walking back outside. The other New Hopers bid their own farewells. Most looked a bit haggard, but they all had lingering smiles.

"We'll be heading out. We have the shift right after Clara's and y'all got me beat. Literally. I appreciate the new gizmo," Sarah thumped her chest on her new armor, releasing a small pulse of heat.

The two squad leaders lingered a bit as their groups filtered out but they didn't stay long. Before we'd even settled into the meals that had been forgotten during lunch, a stiff mist drifted through the boarded up windows.

"Oh heck no. This is going to be a working dinner you workaholics," Danny said between mouthfuls, pointing her spork at me accusingly.

"Did not mean to interrupt your meal. My apologies," Dai said, practically gliding on his mist trail. The lizardman set his weird water barrel contraption down before plopping on the ground. I don't know how he didn't hurt his tail.

"Don't worry. If you hadn't joined us she would have found something else to complain about," I said half turning on the table so as not to give the man my back.

"She's very good at that," Sam added. When the brunette leveled her gaze at him, he resumed eating dutifully.

While I still had some trouble with the lizardman's expressions, I was fairly sure he was smirking at our antics. After a moment, however, his demeanor returned back to a serious one.

"I've made some discoveries that put things in a... concerning light." Dai started. "From what I've been able to gather people have been going missing for a long time. Founding of the walls long time. Nothing strange really, and people have unfortunately become callous to that. Death is the norm."

I grimaced at what he said but nodded. Thankfully we hadn't lost anyone, but we'd had enough close calls that I knew it was a real possibility. One that I knew the Wildwoodians had suffered along with the rest of humanity. One I planned to do my damndest to prevent.

"The strange and concerning part is the pattern of disappearances. You wouldn't know this but we take a census every year. It's not too hard with 200 odd people in the town. Outside of the people killed in monster attacks or while out with the Wild Guard? Twelve gone each year."

"How far back?" I said, brow furrowing as I tried to put the connection together.

"At least through the decade we've been keeping good records. Dylan might be a bit obstinate, but he likes his records in order. Irwin pays out the earnings for people, so he benefits from that too."

"The same number each year?" Sam asked, his food now forgotten.

"Twelve each time."

"That's too much of a coincidence. Right? Maybe two years, maybe even two years back to back. But ten?" Danny said.

"Someone must be giving the Tendrils people. That would explain why there are so many of them," I said, thinking about the dozen of the humanoids they'd fought up to that point. "Do you have any idea who might be responsible? Do you know who it was that advocated for the whole 'tribute to the tendrils' nonsense?"

Dai shook his head, pressing his clawed hands against his boney brow. "No leads as of yet, but I did notice something strange north of town."

When none of us spoke up, he continued.

"When I came back I tried to talk to the crystal here, Tec I think you called it. I noticed some strange changes in the aura around the crystal over the first few days, as if it was being syphoned towards the north. After ranging some ways out, I spotted two groups of Tendrils and the Tendril beasts that they control. Maybe eight to a dozen in each. They were just there, undisturbed.

"I spent the next few days scouting out that entire region. No more Tendrils, but also none of the Wild Guard went that way."

"Don't you guys patrol in quadrants?" Danny asked.

"The Guard does, yes. Except for the North. They leave that to Oliver's team because they have the best eyesight and ranged capabilities to see stuff from the bridge or across the water," Dai answered.

"I don't like what that implies," I said. "After we get some stuff situated tomorrow do you think you could lead us there?" I said.

"Yes, of course."

"Good. Then meet us by Tec in the morning. We'll get you the Implant and you can spend the morning getting used to the changes. Maybe we'll be able to pick up some more Skills ourselves."

The lizardman bowed his head, eyed our meal before gesturing at it, and drifted out of our place.

When I looked at our meal, I could see that I wasn't the only one that had lost their appetite.

"Well, no sense to delay it. Who's got first watch?"

---+---

The next morning things moved quickly. Word of our little display the day before had spread like wildfire. When my uncle had mentioned that small town events got shared fast I didn't quite expect what Wildwood had to offer.

A half dozen of the Wild Guard trainees rushed me down for commissions of different armor and weapons. They offered me the meager earnings they had allotted to them, but I refused them easily. Not because I didn't want to help them or take their money, of which we hadn't received any from the town yet, but because I didn't have the time.

I promised that I would work with some of their craftsmen and repairmen. With their hunger somewhat mollified we continued towards the building I knew served as one of the Wild Guard barracks. On the way there I saw that most of the crafting areas in the center of town had already been repaired and people were intermingling. The coins made of pressed metal sheets exchanged hands for goods and the rest of the people went about their business. Some felt the need to tell us all about how they supported our expansion efforts. Some thanked us for clearing and growing the field like we had. The few with the Gift and a Life Attunement had already been pulled to farming duty.

As we got our own dose of small town gossip, we also got a gauge on their general mood. Beyond the initial platitudes and niceties there was always something for people to complain about.

Most of the complaints were expected. Not enough food. Not enough pay. Not enough fun things to do. The few that we did get to open up were the ones that we cared about.

People who'd lost someone. A sibling, a friend or a child even in some cases. There was definitely a hidden pressure and I tried to leverage all the usually obnoxious social skills my uncle had instilled in me. Not that being social was bad, and I wasn't lying when I said I cared about the people we interacted with, but it exhausted me. Early on in this endeavor we'd split up to get a wider scope from the town. Sam and I spoke with the crafters while Danny talked to the people carrying the goods. My much more introverted blonde companion was even forced to join some of the conversations when he noticed how word-worn I was getting.

By late morning, probably an hour or two from noon, we finally stumbled into the Wild Guard housing only to find it empty. Not wanting to waste too much time we walked to Tec.

The augmented field of magic all around us once again reinvigorated my mood. I just couldn't get bored watching the way the elements danced around each other. As soon as we set foot on the bridge a shape pulled itself out of the water. Dai. He wore nothing but some trunks with a hole cut in them for the tail and we watched as he formed a mist from the water that clung to his body. The breeze over the lake quickly made it disappear and he was once again dry.

"How long have you been in there?" Danny asked.

"Since this morning. The bigger aquatic creatures have thankfully been dealt with but they still need help dealing with them from time to time," the lizardman said. "They usually call me in, but I was already in the area." He gave the giant crystal a meaningful nod.

"Tec, can you bring us in?"

--Justification for whitespace?--

"We have news, questions and someone else to Implant," I said, snappy like Tec was.

--Confirmed--

Crystal limbs plucked us from the bridge, lizardman companion and all.

"Is this the norm!?" Dai called out, waving his arms around in search of something to grab.

"Yes, here." I lent the man my shoulder to stabilize him. "This might sting."

"What might--" the crystal punched into the back of his head for only a moment before Dai slumped.

--MetierTech Implant Complete--

--Entity requiring clarification on Tec designation and further Dreg information--

"Oh, I just gave you and your... Sibling names. It was odd just calling you both Entity this or Entity that," I said.

"We'd been talking about giving you all more reasonable names, but he insisted these would work for you," Daniela added, sticking her tongue at me.

--Nomenclature is appropriate--

--Will petition for future Entities to match your proposed naming scheme--

"Uh... Sure?"

--Information pertaining to the Dreg infiltrating my Area of Influence?--

"We have a lead on something. People being kidnapped, probably for the Tendrils if I had to guess."

--Potential justification?--

"They are converting them. To make more Tendrils," Dai said, his eyes focusing back on our conversation.

--Computing possibility of theory--

Tec was silent for all of two seconds.

--Probability is high--

"We plan to investigate after leaving. Before we did go, there were a few things I wanted to check with you and Bec. Could you connect us?"

"Are they alright?" I asked, the desire to head right back to the camp leaping to the fore of my mind.

"We killed a slime and got their crystal. Hopefully when we get back that will help you out," Sam pointed out.

"We'll bump it up. Like we were telling Tec, we have a lead on someone that may be kidnapping Wildwoodians. Before we try to pursue it, do you think we would be okay unlocking more Skills?"

--Query could have been presented to Tec--

"No offense Tec, but when we first came here you started stabbing before we started talking," I pointed out.

"Don't mind me then," she said. "Managing as many Skills as I have has been hard enough. Plus, I'll leave the defense to you, rock-for-brains."

"Did you have any recommendations, Bec?" Sam asked.

The voice of our home crystal paused, likely running its own type of computational evaluation.

"What? Why? Wouldn't that give me more flexibility?"

"You do know I have no clue what you are talking about, yes?" I said, my frustration giving way to confusion.

"Wait. Then why was it okay for me to complete my Offensive set?" Daniela asked.

"And why would it be okay for me to complete my Defensive one," Sam added, both of them joining me in frowning at the whitespace around us.

"I am totally lost," Dai said, sitting back and shaking his head.

Daniela actually had the wherewithal to blush and look embarrassed while Sam had a contemplative look on his face.

"I actually have a question," Dai said, raising his hand. Considering the deer-in-the-headlights look he had, it felt like he was talking to one of our teachers back when we were doing the equivalent of elementary school. "How many of these 'Skills' can we have? If my Status is correct, and the trend for gaining one more Skill unlocks in the future continues with levels, I will have way more than six Skills." Okay, maybe he isn't as lost as I thought.

"That's a whole lot to unpack," Sam said, joining Dai on the ground and staring at the whitespace, unfocused.

--Humans appear overwhelmed by the primitive informational breakdown provided--

"Okay, so, 6 core Skills and then we can somewhat manipulate our magic using the Freeform Skill. Once we have acquired all 6, then we can upgrade. That's alright, I can deal with that. I will hold off on the why for another time, if that's okay..." I said, already trying to consolidate all the information. The gist of it, as it turned out, was simple, but I knew there was probably more to the whole 'upgrade' facet of Skills. Nonetheless, Bec's suggestion was one I would follow. The Entity hadn't strayed us wrong, even through the madness of the surface. "I'll take my Materialize Offensive Skill, Tec. If you please."

Without any warning, my head was placed in a vice. Metaphorically speaking. Flashes of information, flashes from the lab and man I'd seen before flew through my mind but my Skill didn't trigger like before. Several seconds later, information coalesced before me.

"Good to know your system is as vague as possible, whenever possible, Bec,"

It said with the monotone equivalent of a chuckle.

"Huh," I said. It was something I hadn't considered up to that point. Even with all the knowledge that the Entity Clusters had, they were still learning how to interact and deal with having 'Dreg Warriors' instead of passively waiting for Dreg to be brought to them.

"That's cool with me," Sam said. "I won't deviate from your plan to complete my Defensive Set anyhow"

"I... Well, I don't know any better, so I will subject to your wisdom, Mr. Bec." The lizardman actually gave a half bow from his spot on the ground. A moment later, both him and Sam were twitching from the information being shot straight into their squishy domes.

The voice clicked, as if Bec had hung up a phone. The awkward silence held for about two seconds.

--Justification for white space has been fulfilled. Tec requests further information regarding Dreg threat in exchange for whitespace privileges.--

Just as suddenly as we'd arrived, we were ejected. Only me and Danny, who weren't reeling from the Skill gains, were able to keep our feet as the bridge appeared before our feet. The lithe brunette actually rolled out of the way as Samuel crashed on top of Dai and they both toppled into the shallow water. My Perception screamed out a warning and I spun, spell chain at the ready. It was a kid, probably no older than ten, standing with a ball in hand. Said ball dropped to the ground as he turned and dashed out of the Blessing of Magic, screaming about the crystal eating people.

"That's going to take some handling," Danny said from her crouch.

"There goes the crystal's secret, more like. That little scoundrel will have told everyone by the time dinner comes around," Dai said, pulling himself out of the water onto the bridge with grace.

The undecipherable string of words that had shown on my Status when Bec had first changed it reformed into a simple word. The source of the message was clear.

--Oops--